The New Mestiza By Gloria Anzaldúa Summary

However, modern interpretations of Coatlicue have been depicting her once more as the powerful goddess she had once been. Because Mexicans have been reclaiming the narrative on their traditions, Coatlicue has been reimagined as an empowering figure, especially for females. For instance, in Borderlands/La Frontera: The New Mestiza by Gloria Anzaldúa, snakes are once more equated with sacredness in defiance of Christian interpretations of snakes as being evil. Anzaldúa, a Chicana, says in her book that she “know[s] Earth is a coiled serpent. Forty years it’s taken [her] to enter into the Serpent, to acknowledge that [she has] a body, that [she is] a body and to assimilate the animal body, the animal soul” (Anzaldúa 26). Unlike the European thought
They started to lack confidence in how to proceed as a country, and the Aztec culture was made to haunt their present like a ghost. However, interpretations of the past always change because people can look into previous years with their own present perspectives. As more and more people with indigenous blood tell their own stories without internalizing the shame given to them through listening to Western perspectives, they can once again be proud of their culture. Having the ability to speak one’s own voice leads to empowerment, so it is important that all natives be able to share their ideas and be taken seriously in order to break free from the phantom of
This is because white people have long written accounts of the conquest to great success while Native American voices have slowly faded into obscurity. First published in Spanish in 1959, The Broken Spears: The Aztec Account of the Conquest of Mexico, shows the long overdue compilation of the Spanish Conquest from a native perspective. In the book, one Indian describes that “[g]old, jade, rich cloths, quetzal feathers – everything that once was precious was now considered worthless” (Leon-Portilla 138). This native description shows the feelings of one’s entire universe being turned upside-down. In places like the United States, Columbus Day is celebrated along with the “discovery” of the Americas, but people rarely consider European arrival from the other end. As Native Americans’ voices gain consideration by those of the present, their own feelings about the horrors of colonization can be heard, and a fairer, more inclusive, history can be